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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. clip — to cut
  3. ground — a position
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. club — for dancing
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. spring — of water
  9. tube — a container
  10. court — of a king
  11. club — for golf
  12. court — of law
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. ground — crushed
  15. club — a group
  16. tube — the underground
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a music group
  20. ground — the earth
  21. spring — a coil
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. snap — to click
  24. court — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com